John Greenwald

John Greenwald, 1942 - 2010

John speaks about his
work:

I drew my first nude
as a 16-year-old high schooler in New York City in 1959. A classmate took a
small group of us to open life drawing at the famous Art Students League in
Manhattan. There, for less than a dollar, we drew the figure for two hours with
a few dozen other artists.

I had never seen a live nude model
before, but after a minute or so of trepidation, I began to draw. And
immediately I was hooked. There was something about the abstract beauty of the
figure — plus the model's inherent humanness, sensuality and personality — that
I wanted to capture.

In time, I saw the figure as a template
for experiments in color, expression, abstraction and playfulness. That's where
I am now, using the figure to explore a wide visual vocabulary. People have
called me an abstract painter, an expressionist, a fauve, a colorist and
Matisse-like. Who knows?

Some of the artists where I have my
studio, in Western Avenue
Studios in Lowell, Mass., wonder why I use different
models. “All his models look alike,” they say. But I need models. They are my
collaborators, whose style and personalities influence my paintings as much as
their torsos, limbs and faces.

Biography and
Exhibitions

Born: New York, NY.,1942

Schooling: Graduated from the High School of Art and Design,
New York N.Y., 1959; majored in advertising art. Graduated from Syracuse
University, 1963: bachelor of arts; Majored in American studies and journalism.

Journalist: For 40
years, newspaper and magazine writer, editor and executive. I worked for a variety of general interest
and specialized publications with local and national and national audiences.
Currently write a weekly column, "After the Show," about movies, TV,
culture and society for the Waterbury Republican-American in Connecticut.